The Avengers 3.75" Grapple Firing Black Widow

The story of how I managed to find this extremely rare figure some 2 weeks back can be read here.


Amazingly, I've been accused of being a scalper for finding and buying a couple of this figure (one for the Rangerlord) and the others I picked up that day.  Well guess what?  I've opened and reviewed the figure like I do for all my stuff, so there!

I do have to concede I was very lucky to find Black Widow.  And I hope all of you hoping to find one manage to hunt one down at retail.  On to the review! ;)

Like: The head sculpt and paint.  It's so good it was the first thing I noticed!  They got her hair right, her face is great, and the flesh tone is smooth and clean too.  Her eyebrows, eyes and lips are all done very sharply and I have to say I certainly wasn't expecting these sorts of standards on a figure, let alone a 3.75" female figure of an actress rendered for the first time in this scale.  great job, Hasbro!

Like: The super articulation.  She's got 25 points of articulation even without a chest joint.  Still, would it have been that tough to give us a waist swivel?  It's kinda bitter sweet that they went to all the trouble to give her legs with seven PoAs but a torso with zero!

Dislike: Despite the fantastic articulation, she's missing one important PoA: the chest hinge/pivot/waist swivel.  Also, her head ball-joint is reduced to a swivel.  Without these two what-I-like-to-call "central" joints, her poses end up being a lot less dramatic than they could be, whatever flexibility in her limbs.  But maybe with my new-found status as Padawan customizer, I'll have to remedy this...imbalance to the Force...

Like: The usable dual hip holsters!  Both are attached to a simple belt that hangs on her hips but sits nicely on them.  I'm glad they didn't glue this down because sometimes it ends up getting in the way of leg articulation.  This way, you can pose Black Widow first, then push the belt down nicely into place. :)

Like: That she comes with two handguns.  It's nice to see some accessories on an Avengers figure--sure, they've all got their BFGs, but those are just for kids to increase the risk of shooting each other in the eye after buying the figure.  Lol.  I ignore these completely and ScarJo's "Grapple" here is no different.  But just for your info, it's the same spring loaded BFG that comes with Fandral out of the Thor line from last year.  And it ain't no grapple, it's a missile! ;P

Dislike: That while her right hand is molded to hold a gun properly with the trigger finger able to fit in the trigger guard, the left isn't.  I really hate it when this happens.  It makes her look like she doesn't know how to shoot with her left hand.  And it's not like they gave her anything else to hold in it. :(

Dislike: That the guns are cast in really soft rubber!  Safety standard?  Perhaps.  But if you're gonna swallow it, it won't matter how hard it is, right?  If you're gonna toss it in someone's eye, it'll still hurt as much unless it's made of sponge or something, right?

Like: The tampographs of S.H.I.E.L.D logos on her shoulders, belt buckle, and zipper are really clear and bold!  They're so tiny, they are easy to miss.  But up close you can see how clean they've been done.  Awesome!

RATINGS

Aesthetics: 9.5/10 - Truly amazing ScarJo likeness.  Even if it wasn't, it would be one heckuva knockout of a female figure.  What's awesome is that the figure achieves this by not needing to have crazy comic proportions--Widow has a real ScarJo-like figure!  Whodathunk the best Avengers movie figure would turn out to be a girl, and one with womanly proportions, at that? :P

Poseability: 8.5/10 - Would easily be 9+ if she had some sort of torso swivel/pivot/crunch joint.  As is, she's still super flexible and can even squat!  Hooray for the double-jointed knees, thigh cuts and hinge/swivel ankle combo!

Sir Mixalot is proud!

These new ankles that Hasbro have developed are a real revelation.  What they've done is reversed the joint: the hinge goes on the lower leg, while the swivel is in the foot.  They've also designed for the post to be inserted into the foot at an angle, so the post goes into the foot like a foot would go into a shoe. So now we have the same turning and pivoting, and the added ability to rotate the ankle, all with the same number of joints!

Fun: 9/10 - Like all highly poseable figures, Black Widow plays well on her own and especially with other figures.  Beating up on Haweye?  Easily done.  Taking on the Hulk?  No problem.  She's highly skilled in hand-to-hand combat, so being able to pull off poses with her PoAs is especially rewarding. Giving her two guns and usable holsters adds to the playability and as a result, the fun factor.  Also, the fact that she looks so much like Scarlett Johansen is a real treat.  I always find it fun when they get actors' and actress' likenesses spot on.  It's just fun to own!

Value: 8.5/10 - Two guns, a dual holster/belt combo, a "grapple" and an excellent head sculpt and paint-job--so good value there.  They didn't skimp on articulation (except for the torso) so that checks out too.  But what makes her worth getting is that she's a chase figure and can only be found one out of every twelve in case.  So yeah, grab her at retail if you see her!

Overall: 8.9/10 - It's a keeper for sure! - The Avengers Black Widow and Hawkeye from the same wave complete the all-star lineup for the summer blockbuster.  That she's been given a great sculpt and paint on top of some brilliant articulation says a lot for the line--they actually bothered to please us collectors!  ;P  Also, any future version of her for this movie will probably use this figure as a base, so that will be a nice way to get her if you can't find her.  But here's hoping that they include more of this version in future waves because that would mean more Black Widow for everyone, and it would also mean more (hopefully new) Avengers movie figures!